Google downed by worm

Popular web search engine Google was taken offline by a worm this week.

For many users, Google is a mainstay of the Internet, despite the existence of many other search engines. But the recent Mydoom.o worm caused deep concern among web users when it caused Google's services to become unavailable for a short period this week.

The worm, spreading by email, used Google and other engines to search for email addresses. The blizzard of requests, much like any denial of service attack, resulted in page errors and slow responses for regular users.

Representatives at Google acknowledged the attack but declined to comment as the firm is in the early stages of its IPO.